Volunteers from the Multnomah County shelter’s Apartment Cat Team trap, neuter and return cats at area low-income or subsidized apartment complexes and mobile home parks. They rounded up a total of 29 cats to bring to the clinic today.

The clinic was made possible through a $1,500 grant from the Humane Society of the United States, which sponsors World Spay Day to educate the public about spaying and neutering.

The organizations likely beat out the stiff competition for the grant because of the unique partnership between the Feral Cat Coalition and MCAS, said FCCO executive director Karen Kraus said during this morning’s clinic.

“On a national level, they were quite impressed that we were working together with the county shelter," she said.

The group is helping to reduce the area’s cat over-population problem and ultimately increase the area’s live-release rates at shelters.

With kitten season just a couple months away, a few unfixed felines can multiply into a lot more come summer.

A few cats are much more manageable than a litter of kittens. And it doesn’t take long for those kittens to start having more kittens – Kraus points out they can start reproducing at just five months old.

When they breed, unaltered cats engage in problematic behaviors such as fighting, spraying, caterwauling and yowling.

“We don’t want people to get frustrated with the cats,” Kraus says. “It is preventable, it definitely makes neighborhoods more livable, and it’s better for the cats not to be out there breeding.”

When male cats fight, they can get abscesses and other health issues, and it’s hard on the females to have litter after litter.

If you want to help:

Spay or neuter your pet cat. Cats can generally be spayed or neutered when they reach about two pounds, or between eight and 10 weeks old.

Don’t let it roam free and add to the feral cat population.

Help someone else get their cat spayed or neutered.

Sponsor a cat to be spayed or neutered or donate to FCCO.

For more information, visit feralcats.com or call the Feral Cat Coalition at 503-797-2606.